It’s no secret that certain spaces in Merseyside were once all-male “sanctuaries” - but you might be surprised to hear just how recently one city centre pub finally allowed women inside.

Ye Hole in Ye Wall on Hackins Hey didn’t start letting women in until 1975... and some of the regulars were NOT happy about it.

It's quite a contrast to the welcoming, friendly pub to everyone it is today - and hard to believe how recently it was allowed to keep women out.

Dating back to 1726, Ye Hole is believed to be the oldest alehouse in Liverpool, and it refused to let women in until it was forced to by law.

But a group of fierce Scouse women broke the rules and took a stand by defying the “men only” rule at the pub.

A picture taped behind the bar at the pub today shows a group of women dressed in questionable 1970s outfits, proudly knocking back pints and smoking cigarettes in front of the “gentlemen only” sign.

This image taped behind the bar at Ye Hole in Ye Wall on Hackins Hey shows the moment women broke the rules to drink at the male-only alehouse

The rebel group of pub-goers forced their way in to the consecrated male space before the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act made it legal for them to do so.

Described in the ECHO at the time as “one of the last bastions of male chauvinism on Merseyside”, Ye Hole finally fell to the women on December 29, 1975 after almost 250 years of male-only drinking.

Landlord Lawrence Crean told the ECHO at the time: “We would have preferred to have kept the pub men only, but we have no choice in the matter.”

The move prompted a fierce backlash among regulars and licensees alike, with the landlord’s wife Barbara Crean telling the ECHO at the time: “This is a man’s pub. There are no carpets on the floor, no piped music. The men don’t mind buying their pals a pint, but they don’t want to be buying secretaries gin and tonics.”